"This morning six athletes were going from Delhi to Panipat in their auto, carrying their powerlifting kits, when they met with the accident at Alipur village, near Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana", a police official said.

Yadav, a resident of Nagloi in north Delhi, won gold for India in powerlifting world championship held in Moscow a year ago.

The police are investigating if it is a case of drunken driving since some liquor bottles were found in the vehicle.

According to the police, the auto first hit a divider and then crashed into an electricity pole.

The official said that the driver was speeding despite dense fog in the area.

According to reports, the impact of the hit was so high that the auto rolled over several times before crashing into the pole. "They were celebrating Rohit's birthday on Saturday and had gone to Karnal (in Haryana)", the officer said.

The vehicle involved in the accident was smashed beyond recognition. "A police team, which arrived on the spot, used cutters to cut the auto in order to extract the six men, four of them already dead, from it", said a senior police officer.

While the injured identified as Saksham (28), shifted to Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh and Rohit (23) was taken to LNJP Hospital where his condition is stated to out of danger.

"Prima facie, the auto was at a very high speed".

Bottles of liquor were reportedly found in the vehicle. However, it is yet to be fully established.